A report by the American CNN channel praised the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's efforts in the fight against terrorism through several active initiatives. CNN also lauded the great interest in US President Donald Trump's speech in Riyadh recently when he stressed the confrontation of Iran's regional ambitions and the need to drive out terrorists and extremists. The report considered Trump administration's reorientation towards Saudi Arabia as a golden opportunity to benefit from programs to strengthen the fight against extremism led by the Kingdom at the international level, stressing that this will prevent attacks similar to what happened in London and Manchester. The report, written by Barak Seener, referred to the efforts of Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy prime minister and minister of defense, in adopting several initiatives, foremost of which is the Islamic Military Coalition to Combat Terrorism, which includes 41 Islamic countries similar to NATO in addition to the Center of Intellectual War (Fikr) of the Ministry of Defense in the Kingdom. The report referred to the great interest of President Trump administration in increasing the volume of cooperation with the Kingdom in combating terrorism and extremist ideology, citing President Trump's program during his visit to the Kingdom and his participation in the opening of the Global Center for the Fight against Extremist Thought. The report dealt with the expansion of the center of intellectual warfare as a key part in the efforts of the Ministry of Defense in the Kingdom to combat what it called "terrorism" and how it aimed at its intellectual roots since its inception. The report reviewed the center's main goals including coordination with international governmental institutions such as the US State Department, the African Union Mission in Somalia and other international agencies such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the International Police. The report cited general supervisor of the Intellectual War Center Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa's statement in which he stressed that the IWC considers "Islam to be embracive, loving and all inclusive." "The type of Islam that the center seeks to counter is a doctrine that goes beyond logic leading to extremism, hatred and exclusion," he said. The report stated that according to Salman Al Ansari, president of the Saudi American Public Relations Affairs Committee (SAPRAC), the IWC seeks to coordinate the effort of the Islamic coalition's member states to counter terrorism. The report stated that IWC's initiatives include a range of counter terrorism strategies: the exchange of intelligence and databases of terrorist organizations among coalition members, media initiatives to communicate counter-radicalization messaging, and the coordination of military support according to each states' capabilities to confront terrorism that threatens the member states. The report stated that the US, UK, Australia, Germany, France, Canada and Italy support the coordination of these member states, and would potentially benefit from these efforts, receiving increased intelligence and support in countering home-grown or imported terrorism and radicalization. — SPA
